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Influence of processing on the generation of γ-aminobutyric acid in green coffee beans

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Abstract

A determination of the concentrations of free amino acids in differently processed green coffees indicated the nonprotein amino acid γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a well-known plant stress metabolite, to be present in raw coffee beans (Coffea arabica L.) in significantly varying amounts. The GABA content of unwashed Arabica beans (green coffee produced by the dry processing method) was always markedly higher than that of washed Arabicas (wet processing method) as well as that of untreated seeds. This result underlined the assumption that during postharvest treatment a significant metabolism occurs within coffee seeds. A putative relation between drought stress of the coffee seeds and postharvest treatment methods is discussed. The GABA content of green coffee beans may serve as a potent tool to characterize the type of postharvest treatment applied in coffee processing.

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Acknowledgements

This research project was supported by the Forschungskreis der Ernährungsindustrie (Bonn, Germany), the Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (project no. AIF-FV 12181 and 13588). The authors wish to thank the Neumann Group, Kraft Foods, Ipamema Agricola, and Tchibo for financial and logistic support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Biology, Technical University Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

    Gerhard Bytof, Sven-Erik Knopp & Dirk Selmar

  2. German Research Center for Food Chemistry (DFA), Munich, Germany

    Peter Schieberle & Ingo Teutsch

Authors
  1. Gerhard Bytof
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  2. Sven-Erik Knopp
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  3. Peter Schieberle
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  4. Ingo Teutsch
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  5. Dirk Selmar
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Correspondence to Dirk Selmar.

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Bytof, G., Knopp, SE., Schieberle, P. et al. Influence of processing on the generation of γ-aminobutyric acid in green coffee beans. Eur Food Res Technol 220, 245–250 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-004-1033-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-004-1033-z

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